Groups Join Forces To Oppose State's Ban On Gay Adoptions

November 20, 2004|By Ginelle G. Torres Miami Bureau

MIAMI — Twenty local and national organizations have joined forces to launch the Coalition for Fair Adoption, vowing to repeal a 27-year old law that bans gays and lesbians from adopting children in Florida.

Florida is the only state with a complete ban on adoption by gays and lesbians, either as a couple or as single parents. Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union took its challenge of the ban to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to decide in early January whether to hear the case filed on behalf of four gay men raising Florida foster children they cannot legally adopt.

"This is a new day, and it's time for people to see that homosexuals are just as capable to be parents," said Stratton Pollitzer, South Florida director of Equality Florida.

He said it's time for legislators to evaluate studies showing that gay parents can raise children in a healthy environment.

Howard Simon, director of the ACLU of Florida, said that convicted criminals have the right to adopt children in Florida, but not gays. Simon also noted that 40 percent of adoptive parents in Florida are single individuals, not married couples. "We should not sacrifice our children and express such hostility toward any group of people," Simon said.

The coalition includes the ACLU, SAVE Dade, a gay rights group, and the National Council of Jewish Women.

But the gay adoption ban has plenty of supporters.

Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute in Washington, D.C., said children need a two-parent heterosexual household.

"Florida did the right thing when it made official policy the idea that married couples should be given preference for adopting children, and this policy ensures that children will have a mother and father," he said.

Knight said a summary of studies by two researchers from the University of Southern California showed that children of gay households are more inclined to experiment with homosexuality and view it in a positive light.

"That's no surprise because a child's main role models are their parents," he said. "Public policy should always be geared toward what's best, and a household providing a mother and father should be the aim."

For nine years, Douglas Houghton, a nurse practitioner, has been the legal guardian of a 12-year-old boy whom he cannot adopt. The boy, named Oscar, was left in Houghton's care by his biological father. Houghton, one of the plaintiffs in the ACLU case, supports the new coalition.

"We have a big house, four dogs and do regular everyday things just like everyone else," he said. "I want to legally be a father to my son, who calls me Dad."

Staff writer Ginelle G. Torres can be reached at ggtorres@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5001.